


and look where we are

by twobasco



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - College/University, First Meetings, M/M, POV Tsukishima Kei, Pre-Slash, kuroo appears for a hot second, tsukki is from nekoma, yams is still from karasuno
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-22
Updated: 2020-01-22
Packaged: 2021-02-27 03:27:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 915
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22360324
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/twobasco/pseuds/twobasco
Summary: They meet in Professor Takeda'sBasic Calculusclass.or; Kei meets a certain Yamaguchi Tadashi, and he can't put a thumb on why he seems so familiar.
Relationships: Tsukishima Kei/Yamaguchi Tadashi
Comments: 6
Kudos: 121





	and look where we are

**Author's Note:**

> so i just wanted to write a rly short tkym scene, they're horribly ooc and i apologize. this is my first time writing tkym and generally writing in a long time SO YEAH. but anyway, haikyuu is rly cute n i lov em so much so here. have an au where tsukki's from nekoma but yams is still ##karasuno n they meet at university! ok bye this is kinda bad i made this in between classes today lmao

They meet in Professor Takeda’s Basic Calculus class. 

Kei walks into the lecture hall a respectable fifteen minutes until the bell rings, taking a seat by the far right of the room and putting on his headphones to block out the world as he normally did. Around him, seats begin to fill up and more freshmen begin to quietly chat with one another, determined to make friends.

They don’t approach Kei however, his tall figure and the headphones around his ears imposing the don’t bother me aura.

Professor Takeda enters the room three minutes before the bell and the light chatter in the room quiets, gazes locked on the small, black-haired man. He begins to set up his laptop by the desk, body relaxed and face smiling warmly at the students. Kei takes off his headphones just as the bell rings and a boy comes barreling into the room.

Professor Takeda raises one eyebrow at the latecomer, a light pink blooming beneath his freckled face. The boy has dark brown-green hair coupled with the freckles on his face, and Kei mutely wonders why his face looks familiar. He mutters a “sorry, Professor” and slides into the last seat remaining in the room. 

The one right next to Kei.

Seated, Kei briefly notes the boy is almost as tall as he is, which is somewhat impressive considering Kei stands at nearly 194cm. The boy turns to him, smiling shyly.

“I’m Yamaguchi Tadashi,” he introduces.

Another chord of familiarity strikes Kei, but he can’t place it. He ignores it for now, meeting Yamaguchi’s shy gaze.

“Tsukishima Kei.”

They fall into routine easily.

Kei and Yamaguchi have Basic Calculus together three times a week, and they exchange the basic greetings everytime they sit next to each other for it. Yamaguchi has learned Kei isn’t much for small talk, and generously doesn’t force it on him, something Kei appreciates. In turn, Kei listens politely as Yamaguchi sometimes talks about himself, taking it in stride with Kei’s polite nods and noises of approval, talking enough for the both of them.

This is how Kei learns the other is majoring in Chemical Engineering, deciding to get his required Calculus credits out of the way in his first term of college. Kei, in turn, shares he himself is majoring in Accounting, and decided to do the same regarding the required Calculus credits. (Honestly, why was that class even required for their courses, Kei doesn’t know.)

Kei helps Yamaguchi with particularly difficult questions during class, but once the hour and a half session is over for the day, they say their goodbyes and head their separate ways. They don’t see each other outside of the lecture hall, and that’s totally fine with Kei.

He can, however, consider Yamaguchi as more than an acquaintance, but isn’t sure if he can call him a friend yet.

Once, before class starts, Kei notices Yamaguchi doodles in the margins of his notebook. There are little suns and moons and stars dotting the corners of pages, sometimes an occasional Pokeball. There’s a Totoro on the back of the page with the syllabus stuck to it, but Kei’s personal favorite is a little dinosaur drawing at the very back of the notebook. 

“Oh, hey, that’s a cute Stegosaurus,” Kei says briefly, as Yamaguchi turns the notebook on its right side. 

Yamaguchi smiles at him. “Thanks, Tsukki!” he says cheerfully.

Kei makes a face. “Tsukki?”

Yamaguchi’s smile grows wider at whatever face Kei must be making. “Tsukishima is too long,” he explains, “I hope you don’t mind.”

Strangely, Kei does not. He shrugs. “My old captain used to do that, so it’s fine.”

The other boy’s eyebrows shoot up in surprise. “Captain? You played a sport?”

“Yeah. Volleyball.”

“What! No way, me too,” Yamaguchi says, “I was even captain last year.” Now it’s Kei’s eyebrows that shoot up in surprise.

“Where are you from again? Which high school?” Kei asks, the feeling of familiarity that’s plagued him since meeting the other boy more persistent now.

“Karasuno.” Yamaguchi answers.

“ _You_ were the Karasuno captain last year? Didn’t you guys win Nationals?”

Yamaguchi smiles. “Yeah, we did. My team’s great, right? What high school did you come from anyway?”

“Nekoma,” Kei answers, “You knocked us out in the second round.”

Yamaguchi laughs quietly. “Yeah, we did. Hey, I think I now remember a really tall, blond, middle blocker that gave Hinata and Kageyama a lot of trouble.”

Kei stares for a moment at Yamaguchi’s bright smile, eyes crinkled from laughing. His freckles seem more pronounced, scattered across his skin like stars.

Kei thinks, _'Oh, right, him.'_

Aloud, he says, “I think I now remember a freckled-face captain with the great serves.”

Yamaguchi flushes, pleased.

He doesn’t tell Yamaguchi his old captain/insistent mentor Kuroo, who had watched the game, came up to Kei after the game and nodded in the direction of the Karasuno captain, who was excitedly jumping up and down with their manager in a post-win thrill. He doesn’t tell Yamaguchi that Kuroo had given him a sly smile and wink combo, saying, “Look at the ball when he serves, Tsukki, not at him.” He doesn’t tell Yamaguchi he had jabbed the older boy in the side for the totally ~~un~~ true comment.

“Oh yeah,” Kei says, as Professor Takeda slips into the room three minutes before the bell. “Do you want to get some coffee later, if you don’t have a class after this? On me.”

Yamaguchi grins. “Sure.”

**Author's Note:**

> title from [it gets better](https://open.spotify.com/track/6lxJDscGCALBzA0BdhGCiL?si=0uMOSr4QTcCynFuMdlqDRw) by rex orange county  
> pls talk to me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/yamaguchious)!


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